Top 15 Books About Plants Updated 04 /2024

Whether you're new to the exciting world of plant parenting or a seasoned pro, there's always something new to learn about the seemingly endless plant varieties available. In this (non-exhaustive) list, we've gathered some of our new favorite books for plant lovers. You'll find how-to books, coffee table books about plants, and a few books that just celebrate the joy and beauty that plants offer to our lives.

Practical Houseplant Book by Zia Allaway And Fran Bailey

This is an excellent, practical guide to developing and maintaining an indoor plant collection. With nearly 200 plant profiles and 12 creative projects, this book is a must-have for anyone who wants to grow any type of houseplant. Without a doubt, one of the best publications for plant enthusiasts.

Little Book of House Plants and Other Greenery by Emma Sibley

This lovely little book is great for individuals just discovering their love of plants. It goes over 60 of the most popular houseplants and explains how to care for them properly. Everything from how much water and light to feed the plant to how to propagate new plants, the best soil to use, and potting recommendations.

American Grown by Michelle Obama

This is the story of Michelle Obama's White House garden, which she started and nurtured. While most of the book is about her own worries as a newbie gardener (which many of us can relate to), there are also a lot of practical ideas and methods for those who are just starting started with gardening and want to learn more.

Stylish Succulents: Japanese Inspired Container Gardens for Small Spaces by Yoshinobu Kondo and Tomomi Kondo

If you've developed a succulent fetish and are looking for innovative ways to display them in your home, this book is for you. It includes instructions for planting them in various containers and using them to add color to your walls without having to paint. One of the best publications for plant lovers who also want to decorate their homes.

Living With Plants: A Guide to Indoor Gardening by Sophie Lee

Half plant care, part DIY interior décor, and part philosophy, this book has it all. It's about more than just what each plant need, and it delves further into plant care as a way of life. There are over 30 projects that show you how to use plants to enhance your home and office space, improve air quality and overall ambience, and learn about plant care essentials.

Wonder Plants by Irene Schampaert

This book includes 20 photos of interiors that have been altered by imaginative plant-lovers all across the world. More of a tribute to the love of plants and how they can transform a space than a practical how-to guide, however there are some basic advice strewn throughout so you may try to replicate some of the enchantment on exhibit. This is the greatest book for plant enthusiasts who are looking for some visual stimulation and inspiration.

Urban Botanics: An Indoor Plant Guide for Modern Gardeners by Emma Sibley and Maaike Koster

This charming book contains in-depth information on a wide range of plant species. From succulents and cacti to ferns and floral foliage, there's something for everyone. Each description is accompanied by a beautiful illustration of the plant. It's an excellent book for helping you better understand your plants so you can be the best plant parent you can be.

RHS Plants From Pips by Holly Farrell

This really handy book demonstrates how to cultivate fruits and vegetables at home using pips that would otherwise be discarded. Do you wish you could always have avocados and mangos on hand? This book will teach you how to use step-by-step instructions and vivid graphics.

Wild at Home: How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants by Hilton Carter

Carter takes you on a tour of his plant-filled flat and offers a few pointers on how you can turn your space into an urban jungle as well.

The Plant Messiah by Carlos Magdalena

This is the ultimate book for plant lovers because it tells the story of a man who is so passionate about plants that he is willing to risk everything to save them. He spent years traveling the globe in pursuit of uncommon, unusual, and endangered plant species, bringing them back from the edge of extinction.

A Garden Can Be Anywhere by Lauri Kranz

In A Garden Can Be Anywhere, author Lauri Kranz shows budding gardeners how to establish a sufficient food garden outside, regardless of the space available. Her instructions for creating and maintaining raised bed gardens are one of our favorite parts of the book.

Wild Remedies by Rosalee de la Forêt & Emily Han

The book Wild Treatments is a step-by-step guide on gathering and making herbal remedies. Rosalee de la Forêt and Emily Han, expert herbalists, guide readers through 75 recipes for using wild plants and herbs in cuisine and DIY medicines.

The illustrated book, which includes photographs, can assist aspiring foragers in correctly identifying plants and harvesting plant medicine that grows in your own backyard or community.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan's second book on our list, looks at how four essential plants (apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes) have changed and been modified by human societies. He explains how these crops have helped humanity, as well as how we have benefited from our use of them.

Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen

Author Eric Hansen digs into the bizarre world of orchid enthusiasts in Orchid Fever, from wild orchids to produced types. Did you know that in South America, there is an orchid that can grow to weigh half a ton? We didn't either! This book struck a chord with us because we are both orchid enthusiasts.

The Accidental Botanist by Robbie Honey

Author Robbie Honey travels the world in search of unusual plants and dissects them on the spot in his book The Accidental Botanist. This is, at the very least, a lovely visual book of flowers broken down into their constituent parts. Honey looks at 100 different plants and flowers and divides them into chapters depending on color, as well as information on where they were located, how they can be used, and other intriguing facts.

---